Ayurveda’s Healing Trifecta: a Framework for a Balanced Life

Create a path to health and healing with Food as Medicine, herbs, and Ayurvedic lifestyle practices for your body, mind, and spirit.

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When we understand our unique pathway to a balanced life – we thrive. This concept is a central part of Ayurveda’s holistic approach to health and healing. But with 5,000 years of ancient wisdom to wrap your head around, getting started can be intimidating.

At Saumya Ayurveda, we provide clarity and direction by breaking your custom Ayurveda plan into three foundational pillars: Food as Medicine, herbs, and Ayurvedic lifestyle practices.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at our “Healing Trifecta” – and how we use the tools within these three pillars to create small shifts that radically transform your life.
 

Enjoy our video on Healing with Ayurveda.

According to Ayurveda, everything and everyone is comprised of five elements: space, air, water, fire, and earth. These elements combine to form three basic energy properties called doshas. These foundational energies, known as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, are the building blocks of our universe.

Though we may sometimes forget it, we humans are part of the greater universe. Just as rays of sunlight are not separate from the sun, we are not separate from nature. We are nature. As such, we are made up of the same energetic elements as the world around us.

While all three doshas are present in every one of us, they manifest to varying degrees. Our distinct physical, mental, and spiritual traits are the result of our unique dosha constitution. You can think of it like our energetic fingerprint – no two are the same!

Ayurveda seeks to establish svastha (a state of optimal mental and physical health) by attaining and maintaining balance of the doshas. But since we all have a distinct dosha makeup, there’s no single approach that works for everyone. There's no one size fits all solutions which often fall short. The beauty of Ayurveda lies in it's specificity--seeing you!

While our individual needs might vary, we all follow the same knowledge pillars to svastha. At Saumya Ayurveda, we call these guideposts the “Healing Trifecta.”
 

At Saumya Ayurveda, we use the “Healing Trifecta” to establish a framework for the key elements that move us closer to good health. Within these three knowledge pillars, there are countless tools based on 5,000 years of Ayurvedic wisdom.

The hallmark of our Healing Trifecta is its specificity of treatment. Within this vast toolkit lies the best course of action for you – and it’s not the same for everyone. We use the Healing Trifecta to create a clear, personalized, and manageable pathway to your most thriving, vibrant life.

Our demanding lives are the source of much of our physical, mental, and spiritual turbulence. When it comes to regaining balance, they’re also one of our biggest hurdles. It’s a tricky cycle: life is stressful, and it’s making us sick – but we’re too busy to do anything about it!

The Healing Trifecta helps demystify the path back to your best self. It’s a clear framework, tailored to you, designed to fit your life. And with Veena’s expert guidance every step of the way, you don’t have to walk it alone.

"Veena is a treasure of wisdom, support, and encouragement." 

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"I have made such progress since working with Veena. Her advice is transformational. In every single conversation and email, I learned such valuable information and gained tools that are helping me be my best and healthiest self. I am so grateful I discovered Veena and took the leap to work with her."

- Jenny Hubbard, New Jersey, USA

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While Western healthcare has begun to embrace the healing power of diet, Ayurveda has long understood that food is medicine. What (and how and when) we eat can have a profound impact on our bodies, spirits, and minds. Ayurveda offers a holistic approach to diet that honors the unique needs of every individual.

In the West, we tend to think of “diets” in restrictive terms. Cut calories. Banish butter. Quit the carbs. Unfortunately, this mentality starves us both nutritionally and of a healthy relationship with food. We don’t need more deprivation; we need more of what truly nourishes us.

At Saumya Ayurveda, our Food as Medicine programs are designed to balance, heal, nourish, and satiate. Rather than cutting out the “bad,” we focus on the food you should include. With clear and manageable suggestions tailored to your unique needs, it’s easy to weave new habits into your busy life (especially once you start feeling the benefits!).

At its core, Food as Medicine is deeply personalized. Your dosha picture, current dosha state, stage of life, and even the geography where you live all influence which food choices are best for you. That’s why experienced and ongoing consultation is so important.

This said, Ayurveda does provide a few Food as Medicine guidelines applicable to most:

We were all born with a unique energetic footprint, known as our prakruti. When all is well, our current doshic state, or vikruti, will be the same as our original constitution. However, disturbances to our inner and outer worlds can throw the doshas out of balance.

In Ayurveda, the energetic properties of food (such as hot, moist, or oily) increase like energies in our bodies. Thus, we restore balance to the doshas by consuming foods that have the qualities opposite of the imbalance. For instance:

Pitta

Fiery Pitta is best balanced through naturally sweet foods like sweet fruit, most grains, squash, root vegetables, milk and ghee. The best tastes for balancing Pitta are sweet, bitter, and astringent. Sour, salty, and pungent tastes should be minimized.

Vata

We can counteract Vata’s cold, dry, light nature with foods that are warm (both in temperature and spice), moist, and grounding (like hearty soups and healthy fats). The best tastes for balancing Vata are sweet, sour, and salty. Pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes should be minimized.

Kapha

To balance Kapha’s cool, dense, oily nature, we should favor food that is light, dry, and easy to digest – ideally served warm or hot with invigorating herbs or spices. The best tastes for balancing Kapha are pungent, bitter, and astringent. Sweet, sour, and salty tastes should be minimized.

Once a supportive food program is established, we’ll use Ayurvedic herbal medicine to target and support specific tissues, channels, and organs. It’s important to note, however, that your custom herbal protocol isn’t designed to treat specific symptoms. It’s designed to treat the dosha imbalance at the root of your imbalance.

Rather than treating the body, mind, and spirit as separate entities, Ayurveda recognizes the interconnected nature of one’s whole being. While clients may have a long list of health concerns - from poor sleep, to constipation, to menstrual pain - these seemingly unrelated issues are often tied to the same dosha imbalance.

By targeting imbalances at their roots, we restore equilibrium to the whole person. Often, this results in multiple symptoms clearing up at the same time – even those which have been accepted as “part of life.”

Which Ayurvedic herbal remedy is correct for you depends on your constitution, current conditions, location, stage of life, and the season.

As with all herbs, the tenet of Ayurveda is that what works well for one person may be incorrect, imbalancing for another. To know what herbs are correct for you, schedule a consultation with an experienced Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner.

"Ayurveda is gentle and effective because it is not a one size fits all approach. It is a compassionate look at the unique you-body, mind, and spirit, and gaining a clear picture of what is going on for you, then with clarity and specificity, providing you the most supportive and gentle herbal remedies. It's not-- 'everyone take ashwagandha’, ‘it' is about you and only you, and what is optimally supportive of your balance." - Veena, Saumya Ayurveda

“A year ago, after some lab tests, I was told I had an "abnormal" liver. I thought of my mother, who had died young from liver disease. Veena's Ayurveda recommendations, which included herbs and healthy foods, turned things around in less than six months.

My liver was retested, and each lab result was in the "normal" range. This testifies to my long standing mantra: ‘In Veena I Trust."

– Don, Golden Valley, Minnesota

Ayurvedic herbal medicine serves a range of purposes, from improving sleep, to boosting immunity, supporting the digestive and reproductive systems, and even reducing stress and anxiety. While some of these herbs are familiar pantry staples - such as cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cardamom, and turmeric - Ayurveda’s knowledge of herbal energetics unlocks their capacity for targeted healing.

On the other hand, the rise in popularity of Ayurvedic herbal medicine has stirred up a great deal of confusion and misinformation. There’s big money in herbs, and the mainstream marketing machine has branded several lesser-known plants as “magic cure alls.”

It’s true, herbs like Shatavari, Brahmi, and Ashwagandha are powerful healers. But the wrong plant can be ineffective - or even harmful - without experienced guidance. That’s why it’s essential to consult an Ayurvedic practitioner before beginning any herbal protocol.
 

At Saumya Ayurveda, we take a “less is more” approach to herbs. Rather than overwhelming you with an apothecary of expensive supplements, we start with a gentle dose of the plants you need most. Then, we’ll circle back regularly to make any necessary adjustments.

Your herbal needs change based on your response to treatment, changes in your life, and the seasons. This makes ongoing care an important part of your Ayurvedic journey. If it’s been awhile since your last visit, book a follow up to align your protocol with your current reality.

The final pillar of our Healing Trifecta consists of Ayurvedic lifestyle practices. While this phrase can make us a little anxious, it doesn’t mean waking up at four a.m. every day for an hour of silent meditation (though if that works for you, great!). Rather, these 5000-year old lifestyle tools help us tap into the meditative flow of life.

We have countless habits that make up our daily routines. We wake up and sleep. We move from place to place. We eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We breathe. These habits are the key to our wellbeing – and how we do them matters.

We don’t need dramatic cleanses or overhauls to radically transform our lives. With Saumya Ayurveda, you’ll learn effective, easy ways to optimize your energy (prana) and focus (concentration dharna) so you can experience more vitality throughout your day.

Time tested practices like breathwork, meditation, and yog-asana help keep us centered, so we can navigate our lives with greater balance, clarity, focus, and vitality. Paired with Ayurveda guidance around how we eat, sleep, and exercise, we begin to build a nourishing daily rhythm known as dinacharya.

“The energies present ebb and flow throughout the day and night. What happens “out there” influences our inner experience; this is part of the unity of all things. Through dinacharya, we create a supportive daily rhythm that brings our natural energies into harmony with the world around us – so we can step into the flow!” - Veena, Saumya Ayurveda

Learn more about Ayurvedic Lifestyle Practices

Ayurvedic lifestyle practices aren’t about overhauling your daily routine or restricting “bad” habits. They’re about relaxing into a balanced way of living that doesn’t feel like work. As a monk and meditation teacher, Veena weaves this guidance into every session and every course of treatment – so you can lay lasting foundations for a spiritually fulfilling lifestyle.
 

 “Veena was able to help me regain my energy in just a few months and I’m feeling like my “young” self again!

 I love the food plan she designed for me, and all the supporting practices (am/pm routines, breathing techniques, herbs, and spice mixes) are so enjoyable to incorporate into my day. I highly recommend Saumya Ayurveda if you want to feel better and have more vitality.”
 -Molly Rossini, Minnesota

 There is a saying, "The mind is more in the body, than the body is in the mind." The Saumya 3 step meditation process shifts us from fight-flight-freeze mode, to rest-restore-relax mode. Give it a try for forty days and observe the changes. The more grounded and relaxed we are, the smoother life flows.

"The breath is the connection between the mind and body, so by training the breath, we become calm, focused, and grounded, we slow down the aging process by decreasing stress. These practices are so simple and easy to have as part of our daily life. We actually feel and look younger."

- Veena, Saumya Ayurveda

1. Learn Diaphragmatic Breathing and Change Your Life. When we re-learn to breath diaphragmatically, we move from the flight-fight-freeze mode, to rest, restore, relaxation mode from where we want and need to live.

2. Free Daily Guided Practices: 11 minutes in the morning and in the evening, as anchors of your daily Ayurveda routine.

3. Ayurveda Daily Routines:
 Ayurvedic Morning Routine | 6 Rituals for a Calm and Centered Day

10 Ayurvedic Evening Rituals for a Calming Night

"Choose a couple of practices from the routines that provide you with the greatest support. Perform them while applying our two minute meditation technique and you just transformed into a mellifluous meditation. This is meditation applied to daily life."
 - Veena, Saumya Ayurveda

Ready to go deeper? Ayurveda Breathwork Pranayama

“As a physician, I have always believed ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ In an era of spiraling health care costs, Ayurveda is the logical and natural solution.

I started working with Veena at a time when I was at the end of my tether, juggling my professional and personal aspirations. She responded to my desperate call.

I was encouraged to pursue a steady approach to create lasting changes. Now when I see my patients, I see so many sufferings from similar symptoms related to diet and stress. I have routed several of my patients to Saumya Ayurveda. Veena is a blessing to have such a rich resource.

I am eternally grateful to Veena for anchoring me to my present state of health and peacefulness and for helping me to embark on a path towards the balance we all are striving for. Thank you so much.”

--Dr. Gauri Nagargoje, M.D., Oncology and Hematology

“Veena has literally changed my life. I was struggling with mental and physical symptoms that my doctor had no answer for. I thought I was going crazy and just making symptoms up.

With Veena’s guidance, with herbs and diet changes, I soon realized that my symptoms were very real. After making the changes, I made small victories along the way, and became better with each appointment with her.

Now almost 6 months later, I am a completely different person. I still have some things to work on, but with Veena’s help, I know I will be able to take control of my health and not leave it to Western medicine that was giving me little to no help and covering up my symptoms with another medication.

I highly encourage getting the longer package, especially if you are working with challenges with your monthly cycle.

Working with Veen has been the best decision I have made for my health. You won’t be disappointed!”  -- Maria Fumagalli, San Diego, California

“I discovered Veena on google and was very impressed by all of her glowing reviews. I purchased the half year Ayurveda package with 7 sessions. I'm completely new to Ayurveda and Veena is very knowledgeable, patient with my questions, warm, and has a great sense of humor.

I looked forward to our sessions and after more than a decade of chronic illness, things started improving with the protocols she guided me through. I feel like a different person in just half a year. The improvements are incredible, and I feel so hopeful and inspired by this experience.

I will continue the protocols I've learned and at our last session, I didn't feel like I would be left on my own. Veena is always an email or phone call away - she is very, very responsive, and helpful.

I am so glad I discovered her, and I encourage anyone for any health issue or concern to book with her and see how your overall wellbeing will improve. Thank you, Veena!”
 -Therese Nichols, Minnesota

“Working with Veena is incredible. She sees the possibilities that lay dormant in us and is so patient and kind in sharing her wisdom and tools to help birth those possibilities.

As Ayurveda is a living science, it takes conviction and discipline to change habits, to live a different reality. Veena makes navigating the changes smooth and meaningful, inspiring at every meeting, letting me know that, YES, changes are happening! Thank you, Veena. Many blessings!”

-Kyle Sangster, USA

“I have been so fortunate to have been introduced to Veena by a friend, and I absolutely want to share her information with you. Veena is so dedicated to one’s health that it feels amazing to have her on my side. She's truly a beautiful soul.

She is helping me navigate all my issues with perimenopause and I am so glad, as the herbs she has given me have not only boosted my immune system greatly, but have chilled my nervous system out, and I’m sleeping again.” 
  – S.J., Saudi Arabia

We all want to be heard, understood, and cared for as whole beings, not a set of isolated symptoms. True health is more than the absence of disease, which is why Western medicine so often leaves us feeling hopeless and unseen.

Deep down, you already know what you’re searching for: a new framework for living – one that brings your entire being back into balance. With Saumya Ayurveda, you’ll receive individualized guidance to create the physically, mentally, and spiritually vibrant life you crave.

Saumya Ayurveda provides concierge, top-notch, award-winning Ayurveda care. We strive to keep it simple, so you can focus on you! Opt for virtual consultations and we'll come to you.

Our practice model is client focused, we’re not in the retail herb business. We’ll guide you where to order herbs directly online. Our top-shelf Ayurveda oils and herbalized ghees are the best in the land and we’ll ship your care package right to your doorstep.

Our effective multi-appointment consultation packages provide you with experienced Ayurveda care, enthusiastic guidance, and inspiring support.

Explore our personalized services and book your FREE discovery call today.
 Psst! Our clients say it best – so read and watch our client's stories.

Veena is a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and meditation teacher, and monk.

She is President Emeritus and teaching faculty of the Meditation Center.

Veena fell in love with the traditional medicine used in her family’s home, learning herbal remedies at her grandmother's knee.

These childhood experiences were the seeds of a lifelong passion. For over 30 years, Veena has dedicated her life to the world’s oldest healing system: Ayurveda.

She draws on this ancient wisdom to help others find their compass to a healthy life – and support those left wanting by Western medicine.

An experienced Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Veena’s deep, intuitive knowledge of Ayurveda empowers her clients to reclaim their fullest, most vibrant lives –mentally, physically, and spiritually. Veena individualizes treatment plans to each person, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, so it fits your life and becomes woven in your lifestyle, naturally.